Solenopsis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Fire Ant Reactions to Attacks of Pseudacteon Flies (Diptera: Phoridae) in Southeastern Brazil

Porter, Sanford D.; Meer, Robert Κ. Vander; Pesquero, Marcos Antônio; Campiolo, Sofía; Fowler, H. G.

doi:10.1093/aesa/88.4.570

Cited by 78 publications

(89 citation statements)

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“…Whereas non-pest native re ants are also aggressive, they are encumbered by their own speci c Pseudacteon parasitoids. Thus, freedom from the risk of phorids has been a favoured hypothesis for the ecological success of exotic re ants, and is the basis for current efforts to introduce Pseudacteon ies into North America before any direct eld demonstration of their effectiveness (Feener 1981;Feener & Brown 1992;Orr et al 1995;Porter et al 1995;Morrison 1999;Porter 1998).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…About 20 days later, the host dies because the larva has consumed its internal tissues and has pupated in the decapitated ant's head, the site of adult y emergence. Previous work demonstrated that the behavioural responses of foragers to attacking phorids may substantially reduce diurnal food harvesting (Feener 1981;Feener & Brown 1992;Orr et al 1995;Porter et al 1995;Morrison 1999). Since the amount of food an ant colony collects is greatly in uenced by competition with other species (Hö lldobler & Wilson 1990), and since phorids modify such interactions (Feener 1981;Feener & Brown 1992;Orr et al 1995;Porter et al 1995;Morrison 1999), we included a native ant competitor in our experiments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Colony–level impacts of parasitoid flies on fire ants

Mehdiabadi

Gilbert

2002

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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The red imported re ant is becoming a global ecological problem, having invaded the United States, Puerto Rico, New Zealand and, most recently, Australia. In its established areas, this pest is devastating natural biodiversity. Early attempts to halt re ant expansion with pesticides actually enhanced its spread. Phorid y parasitoids from South America have now been introduced into the United States as potential biological control agents of the red imported re ant, but the impact of these ies on re ant populations is currently unknown. In the laboratory, we show that an average phorid density of as little as one attacking y per 200 foraging ants decreased colony protein consumption nearly twofold and signi cantly reduced numbers of large-sized workers 50 days later. The high impact of a single phorid occurred mainly because ants decreased foraging rates in the presence of the ies. Our experiments, the rst (to our knowledge) to link indirect and direct effects of phorids on re ants, demonstrate that colonies can be stressed with surprisingly low parasitoid densities. We interpret our ndings with regard to the more complex re antphorid interactions in the eld.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colony–level impacts of parasitoid flies on fire ants

Mehdiabadi

Gilbert

2002

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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“…5 An important tool to overcome this problem is the analysis of potentially diagnostic compounds, such as 2,6-dialkyl-piperidines and cuticular hydrocarbons. 6,7 Dall'Aglio-Holvorcem et al 6 analyzed two chemical classes in widely separated populations of S. invicta and S. saevissima. They found that piperidine alkaloids clustered S. invicta, but not S. saevissima, while cuticular hydrocarbons strongly clustered both species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Absolute Configuration of Solenopsis Piperidines is a Tool to Classify Fire Ants (Formicidae:Myrmicinae)

Araújo

Botelho

Trigo

et al. 2017

J. Braz. Chem. Soc.

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Piperidine alkaloids are predominant in ant venom glands of S. invicta and S. saevissima. These ants are broadly sympatric in Southeastern Brazil, and potentially diagnostic compounds could assist in ant identification. We determined the absolute configuration of 2,6-dialkyl-piperidines of S. invicta and S. saevissima workers and used these data to group Southeastern Brazil species. The monitoring of venom samples by chiral gas chromatography coupled to a flame ionization detector (GC-FID) revealed that S. saevissima produces the four stereoisomers of 2-methyl-6-undecylpiperidines, 2-methyl-6-tridecyl-piperidines and 2-methyl-6-tridecenyl-piperidines, while S. invicta venom consisted primarily of a single enantiomer cis and trans from each piperidine alkaloid. Our findings showed that the absolute configuration of piperidine alkaloids of fire ant venom may be a potential chemical tool to distinguish S. invicta and S. saevissima sympatric species in Southeastern Brazil.

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“…When phorids are present, ants may remain underground (Feener, 1988;Orr, 1992;Orr et al, 1995), reduce foraging (Feener & Brown, 1992;Porter et al, 1995;Orr & Seike, 1998;Morrison, 1999), or lose competitive encounters against other ant species (Feener, 1981). It has been speculated that by suppressing the foraging and competitive success of their hosts, phorids may regulate ant populations (Feener, 1981) and perhaps influence the composition of ant communities (Feener, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, the retreat by host ants in the presence of their phorids is of less importance if phorids seldom encounter hosts. Instances of strong reactions to phorids have been documented frequently without estimating parasitoid pressure (Feener & Brown, 1992;Orr, 1992;Orr et al, 1995;Porter et al, 1995). In systems in which phorid abundance has been studied, abundance varies seasonally (Feener, 1981(Feener, , 1988Morrison et al, 1999), which means that their importance may vary seasonally.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological interactions among ants in the genus Linepithema, their phorid parasitoids, and ant competitors

Orr

Dahlsten

Benson

2003

Ecological Entomology

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Abstract. 1. Many ant species abandon foraging and retreat underground when parasitoids in the dipteran family Phoridae are present. Although the influence of phorids on ant foraging is well documented, their influence on interspecific competition is less studied. This study examined whether phorids influenced the competitive ability of host ants in the genus Linepithema at two sites in Brazil.2. The phorid Pseudacteon lontrae attacked Linepithema piliferum at one site, while the phorid Pseudacteon pusillus attacked an unknown Linepithema (Linepithema sp.) at the other site. Phorid parasitoids of Linepithema were far more common than phorids of other ant species.3. Despite a high abundance of phorids, it was difficult to conclude that they influenced competition. Captures in pitfall traps indicated that host Linepithema were most active during times of day when phorids were inactive.4. Camponotus rufipes and Brachymyrmex sp., the most common competitors of Linepithema sp. (60% of all interactions), dominated Linepithema sp. during the day regardless of phorids. Remaining ant species could not be evaluated individually because they interacted with Linepithema sp. infrequently.5. Ectatomma brunneum was the most common competitor of L. piliferum (58% of all interactions). The high abundance of phorids at this site made it impossible to evaluate interactions between E. brunneum and L. piliferum in the absence of phorids.6. Phorids seldom influenced exploitative competition by causing host Linepithema to abandon the bait when no ant competitors were present.

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Solenopsis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Fire Ant Reactions to Attacks of Pseudacteon Flies (Diptera: Phoridae) in Southeastern Brazil

Cited by 78 publications

References 0 publications

Colony–level impacts of parasitoid flies on fire ants

Colony–level impacts of parasitoid flies on fire ants

Absolute Configuration of Solenopsis Piperidines is a Tool to Classify Fire Ants (Formicidae:Myrmicinae)

Ecological interactions among ants in the genus Linepithema, their phorid parasitoids, and ant competitors

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